"WELL WHAT KIND OF GIRL DO YOU WANT!" "SOMEONE WHO ISN'T A FUCKING UNICORN GIRL WHO BARFS GLITTER AND RAINBOWS!" She had dirt smeared over half of her face, her hair was a mess, and she was threatening him with a potato sack. Perfect.

The moment he was born, his destiny was set. The pride of his father and his kingdom, he was treated with the highest treatment one could offer.

Natsu admitted it. He didn't like it too much. The occasional pampering and making delicious foods, he had no complaints against. (That chocolate mousse? He would die a happy man after eating one bite.) But the constant forcing of his father into a marriage with a princess was irritating him to no end.

At the moment, the nineteen-year-old crown prince sat in his room, flipping through various channels on his TV, when two knocks on his door was heard.

"My prince, your father requests you to meet him in his study. I'm sorry!" The maid squeaked, and Natsu instantly knew who it was. The shy, pink-haired Aries was a personal good friend of his, even if she had an unusual attachment to saying 'I'm sorry'.

"But whyyyy," Natsy could only groan, begrudgingly turning off the flat screen TV and rolling off of his bed.

"I-I'm sorry!" She only squeaked once more, before Natsu's unusual sensitive hearing picked up her scrambling away.

Groaning dramatically, the prince raised himself to his feet and dragged himself out of his room.

He waved cheerfully to passing servants and maids, that is, until he met his one true enemy.

"What are you doing here, squinty eyes?" Gray sneered, the head chef glaring at him.

"Excuse me, ice cube?!" Natsu shouted back, banging his head against his childhood friend's own forehead.

"You heard me right, ash brains!" Gray yelled, and the air was crackling with rivalry as the two young men tried to push the other away.

"Excuse me, are you two... Fighting?" A dangerously calm voice said from behind them.

They froze, and cold sweat dripped down their foreheads.

"N-NO!" Natsu screamed, whipping around and throwing his around Gray's shoulder.

"Y-YEAH!" Gray bellowed next. The two nervously waited in unison, staring at the redhead.

Finally, the swordsman (woman?) cracked a smile and nodded firmly. "Good. It is a wise decision to have friendships as strong as yours in order to reach your goal in life." She spoke seriously, clenching her fist above her chest.

Gray and Natsu sweatdropped at her dead serious face and tone, before she nodded once more and marched away.

Still apprehensive, the two boys started to hiss each other insults while trying to pinch the other on the arm in their hugging position.

"Fucktard!"

"Ice princess!"

XxXxXxXxXxX

Lucy bent down, the sun beating down on her back with blistering heat. Her brown and slightly worn pants were rolled up to her knees, and she could feel the warm water around her ankles.

She plucked rice plant after rice plant, ignoring the burning pain in her spine and trying to work as fast as she could.

Lucy finally finished the west field, and she sighed before setting the picked plants aside and stretching, moaning when her back popped.

"Lucy-nee?"

The blond eighteen-year-old smiled at the sound of her sister's voice.

"Wendy, why are you over here?" Lucy scolded gently. "You should be checking the hens and collecting the eggs."

Wendy smiled toothily at her. "But I already finished! See, um, Lucy-nee - "Wendy fumbled as she presented proudly a woven basket full to the brim with white eggs.

"Wow, they laid more than usual." Lucy eyed them, and counted up to eighteen. "These will make beautiful chicks. After making sure they're all good, you have to - "

"Give them back to the hens, I know." Wendy nodded, grinning. "So, Lucy-nee, can we go for ice cream today?"

Lucy forced a smile onto her face, and dread started to form in her heart. "Of course, Wendy. We can go after milking the cows."

"Yay!" The thirteen-year-old cheered, dancing around in joy before throwing her arms around Lucy's waist.

"You're the best sister I could ask for, Lucy-nee." Wendy whispered.

Lucy hugged her back furiously. 'Oh, Wendy...'

That afternoon, as Wendy put on her best outfit for their 'ice cream journey', Lucy trailed into her room and stared at the pieces of paper on her desk.

With a trembling hand, she read the top letter, her eyes starting to water as she clenched the paper tightly, causing a few wrinkles.

'Dear Ms. Heartfilia,

We regret to inform you that you only have one month to repay your debts. If not all of them are repented, you will be seperated from your younger sister, Wendy Sky Marvell Heartfilia, as you will not be able to support her needs, and she will be sent to a foster care center.

We wish you the best of luck,

-The Bank of Fiore'

Beneath it was the incredibly large amount of money she was supposed to repay in a month.

Due by June 16, 2016, it read.

Lucy bit her lip. Over one hundred thousand dollars was what she needed, and she cursed their no good father. Jude Heartfilia had once been a good man, but after their mother died, he turned into an alcoholic. He spent their live's savings onto useless things, until he died when Wendy was merely four and Lucy eight.

"Lucy-nee! I'm ready!" Wendy shouted from outside her door.

Lucy took in a deep breath and shoved the paper away under her pillow, before rummaging around her drawers and managing to find a crumpled five dollar bill.

"Coming!"

XxXxXxXxXxX

Natsu sat down reluctantly in front of the red haired king, fidgeting.

Igneel ignored his son for a few more moments, filing through a bunch of papers. The only noises were the crinkling of said papers, and was slowly starting to annoy Natsu.

"So," Igneel started, finally becoming still as he made eye contact with Natsu.

"Soooo," Natsu stretched out.

Igneel sighed. "You still haven't chosen?"

"I told you, it's my choice, Igneel!" Natsu snapped back harshly. Igneel flinched. It just showed how irritated Natsu was with him, because the boy rarely called him by his name.

"You know that I'm only doing this so your happiness is ensured," Igneel tried to reason.

Natsu slouched down in his seat and glared at the green lamp on his father's desk. "Shoving me into some random girl's arms ain't makin' me happy." He grumbled.

Igneel breathed in deeply through his nose. "... Princess Lisanna was nice," he said gently. "Maybe you should - "

"No."

"How about that girl, Laki? Yes, she - "

"No."

"Fine. Her highness - "

"No."

Igneel's eyes twitched. "What on earth will get you to understand that I'm only doing this for your own good!" He hissed.

"I want my freedom!"

"Well, I wanted you to have blond hair, but that didn't happen, did it?!" Igneel shouted back.

"Oi, don't start with the hair again!"

"I mean, look at you! Pink hair! Pink!"

"Hey," Natsu roared. "It's salmon, old man! SALMON!"

"GET MARRIED!"

"NO!"

"DO IT!"

"NUH UH!"

"WELL THEN WHAT KIND OF GIRL DO YOU WANT?!"

"SOMEONE WHO ISN'T A FUCKING UNICORN GIRL WHO BARFS GLITTER AND RAINBOWS!"

Igneel paused to stare at the crown prince. He sighed heavily and massaged the bridge of his nose. "Fine. I suppose that, because of your age, you do have the right to make your own decisions."

Just as Natsu was about to run around and scream up to the heavens in joy, Igneel's next words stopped him.

"But, here's the deal." A smirk morphed onto his lips, and Natsu didn't like to admit it, but fear started to creep into his heart.

"What... Deal?" Natsu gulped.

"Find a girl. Any girl, it doesn't matter." Igneel waved carelessly with his hand. "But there are requirements. One, she can't be a 'unicorn girl'." He quoted.

Natsu slowly nodded, still unsure where the heck he was going with this.

"Two, she has to be in love with you. Three, you have to be married." Igneel stretched out the last word unnecessarily. "And..."

"And?" Natsu whimpered. Already he was terrified.

"You have to find her in a week."

"A WEEK!" Natsu screamed.

"That's right," Igneel beamed, grinning widely. "And if you can find this girl, prove to me that you two are in love, then bam. You get your freedom of choice and happiness. But, fail, and I get to choose."

Natsu gulped again, sweat dripping down his forehead.

"So, do we have a deal?"

Natsu flinched and rubbed the back of his neck.

"... Deal."

XxXxXxXxXxX

Lucy followed an enthusiastic Wendy up the sidewalk, feeling uncomfortable by the many disapproving looks by nearby people.

The city of Magnolia was a place of royalty and wealth, and everyone could tell who they were by their clothes and the way they walked.

Lucy held on to Wendy's hand tightly as the smaller girl led them to an ice cream parlor.

Wendy opened the door and eagerly raced to the counter, peering at the many different choices of delicious treats.

The woman serving them smiled politely, and Wendy eventually chose chocolate and strawberry ice cream with rainbow sprinkles.

As Lucy handed over that wrinkled five dollar bill, Wendy looked at her older sister.

"Lucy-nee, don't you want some too?" She asked, licking some ice cream into her mouth.

Lucy smiled at her, thanking the woman for the change. "Wendy, we came here to get you ice cream... Cutie," she said the last part by bending down and poking Wendy's nose.

Giggling, the blue haired girl held on to her sister's hand as they exited the parlor and started to head back to the farm.

"Wow, Lucy-nee!" Wendy said in amazement, staring at the busy streets of Magnolia. "I never knew there could be so many cars in one place!"